Factors affecting participation in Vocational Education and Training: The case of Vocational Training Institutes in Greece

Abstract

The present study was designed with the aim to investigate the factors affecting adult participation in Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes, through a survey conducted in public Vocational Training Institutes (VTI) in Greece. In detail, the study sought to identify whether: a) there are specific factors influencing participation in VET, 2) these factors are differentiated according to variables, such as sex, age, birthplace, occupation, educational background, training sector or parents’ occupation. In this context, R. Boshier’s Education Participation Scale (a questionnaire based on a seven-factor typology) was administered to a random sample of 257 trainees in Northern Greece. The findings of the study highlighted that the most important factor affecting the decision to enroll in VET programmes, is trainees’ need for «professional advancement», followed by «cognitive interest» and «educational preparation», whilst «social relations» was identified as another salient parameter. As far as demographic/social and course-related variables identified to influence participation in VET were concerned, the findings indicated that all variables, except father’s occupation, have a statistically significant correlation.